To be shocked BREXIT is going to affect cancer treatment?

[cantbearsed1]

Just listening to the BBC radio news and they were interviewing an oncologist who said that because of worries about getting hold of enough isotopes straight after BREXIT, Drs have been advised by the Government to book less people into their clinics for both diagnosis and treatment.
This will mean longer waits for diagnosis and treatment from some patients. I was taken aback that such a serious medical issue is being affected.

Some of my patients are likely to die earlier and in more pain as a result. I told my MP this and he didn't even write back.

We voted out of a huge customs union that not only gave us free trade but had the clout to give us good trade agreements with other parts of the world. How anyone can be surprised it will negatively affect us is beyond me. How anyone can say it's scare mongering by remainers is beyond me. We voted out, of course we'll not keep such favourable trade deals and we'll feel the effects. You can't leave and stay the same.

The issue with cancer treatment does not start and end with the isotopes.

A similar situation exists for medical instruments and equipment, a large proportion of which is sourced from the EU. Currently if a key piece of equipment breaks down or requires maintaining, spare parts are flown in from the EU and an engineer flies in and fixes the problem in a matter of hours. This Just In Time system will break down if the parts are held up in Customs and the engineer has to apply for a working visa before travelling, meaning that operations and tests are postponed or cancelled. Alternatively, the NHS will have to invest in warehouses and stocks of expensive parts - costing money that could otherwise be spent on front-line patient care.

Treatment involves a team of highly trained staff - oncologists, urologists, radiologists, theatre nurses, technicians, post-treatment nurses and so on. Many of these come from the EU - in general, around 10% of NHS staff come from the EU, but in specialist areas and in some hospitals, the proportion is far higher. If these staff decide to leave, the availability of cancer (and other) treatment becomes even more compromised.

Medication is not isotopes, which is the issue here.

And medication hasn't been stockpiled for six months I'm afraid. There is medication that doesn't last that long, much of which is life saving.

I am on DMD for my disability, not cancer,, a close friend of mine works in the pharma industry, she told me that meds have been stockpiled to cover the next 6 months supply for all patients

That sounds like complete bollocks to me. There has been advice to try and build up stocks where possible but saying that there's 6mos of drugs for every UK patient currently being treated is laughable! Where has the money to buy them and space to store them come from, for a start?

Not surprised in the least. Rhesus D prophylaxis for RhD neg women is also going to be an issue, we already have problems maintaining stock of it before Brexit so it's just going to get worse. I would not be surprised if we run out.

@Birdsgottafly Flobochin, it isn't about POV, it's about trading facts.

Some of what is going to happen can't be dismissed under "fake news".

This is what is going to happen.

Again you are speculating.
As theBBC are.

If someone has a different POV you can’t call them ignorant just because it’s not what you believe. Of course you can - facts are facts, it’s not a question of belief. If your point of view is based on a false premise then you are ignorant.

Why would you be shocked? This has been clear for a while. But Leavers knew what they were voting for, so it's all good.

Just listening to the BBC radio news and they were interviewing an oncologist who said that because of worries about getting hold of enough isotopes straight after BREXIT, Drs have been advised by the Government to book less people into their clinics for both diagnosis and treatment.

Project Fear, again.

After all, Britain has had enough of experts. Keith, (not quite fully qualified electrician who lives nextdoor) will gladly do the job instead. No need to worry about isotopes as Keith has never heard of isotopes.

Move on, nothing to see here.

I think a pp misheard - pharma have been told to stockpile 6 weeks stock not 6 months. Of course the cost of extra UK warehousing will be passed on to the consumer/NHS somewhere down the line. It's also likely to cause some shortages now as stock being held in the stockpile can't be put into circulation yet...

I see that Salli has neatly sidestepped the question about whether the Royal College of Oncologists is "speculating"...

I honestly worry about what's going to happen. No one seems to have a flying frig about what will happen and it all seems to have gone quiet on the deals front.........

Sorry that should say "Royal College of Radiologists"!

There's also going to be issues with sourcing non-UK donor plasma products too, but hopefully that will force parliament/BSCH/whatever to overturn the ridiculous requirement to give people born after 1996 non-UK products because of the completely negligible "risk" they might develop variant CJD. So I guess something good might come of Brexit.

So many people who voted Leave seemed to have literally no clue what the facts were about what it meant - this is not necessarily a criticism, people were not given the facts, people are only finding out about things now. The whole thing is a complete mess - god help us going forward!

We were all warned before the referendum so it's no big shock. Leavers were completely detached from it, many too busy with another agenda they were more concerned about and now we are all going to suffer the consequences for what just over half voted for. I remember reading their gleeful Facebook posts when 'they won'. Those Facebook posts have mostly been taken down by them now. There will be many consequences, our loved ones dying earlier and suffering more is one of them. I started to list others but it's too depressing.

I see that Salli has neatly sidestepped the question

Of course, it's becoming a typical response from some Leavers. If it doesn't fit their narrative they choose to ignore it.

Well yeah, this has been known for ages, but people bleat 'Project Fear' every time they hear something like this as they don't want to confront what the reality of their vote means. Much less upsetting to refuse to believe it.

You can kiss goodbye to the NHS too, the US are circling like vultures ready to pick us clean. So much freedom.

Everything is blamed on Brexit. It is the remainers desperate attempt to scare people who voted leave to change their mind.

Did you vote for Brexit OP? Did you BeLeave??

Actually I do believe the BBC are anti Brexit too and a lot of their so called stories are scaremongering. If someone has a different POV you can’t call them ignorant just because it’s not what you believe.

Sure. But if someone persists in a belief that flies in the face of all the facts, and insists that they know better than all of the experts in the field, surely the only realistic conclusion is that they are a)deluded or b)a bit thick.

I remember reading their gleeful Facebook posts when 'they won'.

The day after the vote I heard someone talking about how we might finally get a bank holiday for St George's day...

I don't think medication, trade deals, food shortages were even on their radar.

Resistanceisnecessary: if I “worked in pharma” and had a drug dependent disabled friend I cared about, this is possibly the sort of thing I might say to prevent them worrying.

I agree with you, it’s complete bollux.

I knew some medication would be affected, but I had thought that preparations were being made so that serious medical needs will not be affected.

How?

Medicines that don't last can't be stock piled and they can't be manufactured here, if they could then the raw materials will have to imported.

No pacemakers are manufactured in the UK.

At the moment organs can be imported / exported but a delay at customs could make it impractical.

The same for rare blood groups.

Insulin pumps.